Poor mothers in Britain who are already struggling to make ends meet will be up to £1200 a year worse off under the new coalition budget announced yesterday, according to analysis by the TUC. According to the union, the people who will be hardest hit by the coalition slash and bash budget (slash the cash, bash the poor and unemployed) will be families on the lowest income with very young children.
The lowest income families with new babies will be £1293 worse off than they were before.
Among the benefits slashed are:
- The Sure Start Maternity Grant – from April 2011 it can only be claimed for the first child in a family, resulting in a loss of £500 for pregnant mothers on low incomes who already have a child.
- The Health in Pregnancy Grant – abolished, resulting in a loss of £190.
- The Baby Element to Tax Credits – slashed resulting in a loss of £545 for families claiming tax credits with a child under one
- Toddler Tax Credit – axed, resulting in a loss of £208 a year for families with children aged one or two
- Child benefit – frozen for three years
Commenting on the how the budget will impact poor people in Britain, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said that the coalition may claim the budget is fair and progressive, but “Try telling that to those poor mothers who will lose more than £1,200 as a result of today’s announcements.”
